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Thanks to Birchbox, we've discovered so many incredible beauty brands and products that would have otherwise flown under the radar--something we'd prefer not to think about! Friends and Birchbox founders Katia and Hayley have been shipping personalized and customized beauty boxes to customers since 2010 and have since expanded their company to include Birchbox Man. They have operations in countries like the United Kingdom, France, Spain and Belgium and a roster of celebrity clients, yet we never stop feeling like their number one priority every time we receive a box of their goodies.
We caught up with the folks at Birchbox, who let us in on 11 things we never knew about their company.
[Photo: Instagram]
You don't need to be a subscriber to shop on Birchbox.com. It carries 800 prestige beauty and grooming brands from mainstream favorites (like Kiehl's, Bumble and Bumble and Benefit Cosmetics) to niche up-and-comers (like Milk Makeup, Herbivore Botanicals and Ouai).
Birchbox has a flagship store in Soho, NY that merchandises products by category (i.e. mascara, lipstick, shampoo) instead of by brand, like you'd find in most retailers, so its customers can easily and efficiently find whatever they're looking for.
[Photo: Birchbox]
Co-founder and CEO Katia Beauchamp is obsessed with building a beauty company for women who aren't obsessed with beauty. She knows that beauty isn't every women's passion, but believes that every woman deserves to have the best products--so Birchbox aims to make beauty fun, uncomplicated and approachable.
Birchbox has added product development to its resume. In the past year, it launched two in-house brands: LOC (an easy-to-use, non-intimidating way to experiment with bold color) and ARROW (makeup and skincare designed to keep up with an active lifestyle, as inspired by the "athleisure" movement).
The ARROW color-enhancing lip balm is the #1 bestselling lip product.
PS: ARROW is adding two new products to their lineup this week: a Tinted Brow Gel and Soothing Face Mist).
Hair is a big deal at Birchbox (and not just because Katia is from Texas and prescribes to the "bigger is better" hair philosophy). While makeup is the bread and butter for most beauty retailers, more than half of Birchbox customers say they can never have too many haircare products. It used to be that women would pick up shampoo during a regular drugstore haul and buy a styling cream from their trusted stylist at the salon, but Birchbox has gotten women to "trade up" and expand their haircare repertoire. In fact, 17% of all online sales of prestige hair products now come from Birchbox.com.
[Photo: Instagram]
Ninety percent of Birchbox customers say their brows are important to their overall appearance, but only 20% feel confident in their ability to make their brows look the way they want. Birchbox and Benefit Cosmetics to the rescue: Benefit is launching 36 new brow SKUs on June 24th (sneak peek here) and Birchbox will be launching a pre-sale on June 6th.
Model employees: Birchbox features its staff members in all photography and video content for its website and social channels. In fact, senior social media manger Juliette Dallas-Feeney just got a major hair chop on Facebook Live this week, drawing a record number of viewers. For all-things beauty and behind-the-scenes action at Birchbox HQ, follow @Birchbox on Snapchat.
[Photo: Instagram]
Birchbox experimented with a limited-edition box for men during the 2011 holiday season and when it sold out in just three days (with the majority of those customers being men - not women buying for men), it decided to launch Birchbox Man that spring. The latest and greatest: Man on the Move, a limited-edition box for dads and grads.
Celebrity fans of Birchbox include January Jones, Whitney Port and Jaime King.
[Photo: Splash News]
